2005-02-22 · in Books, The Owl · 147 words

The second book in Bob Forward's Owl series, about a Los Angeles private detective with a fearsome (and carefully-maintained) reputation and a medical condition that prevents him from sleeping. This time, Alexander L'Hiboux foils a kidnapping almost by accident, and finds himself caught in an intricate tangle as he tries to protect the girl he's rescued and work out what's going on.

Overall, not as good as the first book. There's a lot more "action-movie" stuff in this one that's rather less believeable than the first was; L'Hiboux's a lot more interesting when he's being stealthy (or not doing anything at all, or more generally in control of the situation), and this time it feels like he's running from one firefight to the next. It's not an especially bad book, but I found myself mentally rolling my eyes rather more often that I'd have liked.